Picture special: Antonov Airlines looks back on 30 years of air cargo

ANTONOV Airlines has celebrated its thirtieth birthday with a look back on its development over the last 30 years (see images below).

The airline was founded in 1989 and holds the record for heaviest single piece of cargo transported by air, among others.

On August 11, 2009, the airline’s An-225 ‘Mriya’, the world’s largest aircraft, transported a generator with a total payload of 187.6 tonnes from Frankfurt, Germany to Yerevan, Armenia, breaking the record for heaviest single piece of air cargo ever transported.

“As we look back on thirty years of ANTONOV Airlines, and the projects that we have completed, we see one of our strengths is the flexibility of our business to adapt to changing markets,” said managing director Graham Witton.

“We are transporting more outsize cargo than ever before, anything from wind turbine components to city centre trams, and practically anything in between.

“We are also moving further into the aerospace industry as digital communications become more integral in the global economy.”

Director Paul Furlonger, who has been with the company since its formation, added: “When the business first started, many items such as satellite containers, generators and transformers were too big or too heavy to fly on conventional freighters.

“ANTONOV Airlines, as the first commercial operator of the An-124-100, had to quickly pioneer methods of loading using great creativity and flexibility.

“At the beginning, we were doing things for the first time, almost every time, and over the years, after many thousands of flights, our processes have become more refined and our expertise enhanced so that we now undertake ever more challenging and complex projects with absolute confidence.”

ANTONOV Airlines is the international air transportation division of the aircraft design bureau, Antonov Company.

1989 -Ulyanovsk to Novosibirsk Tupolev TU204 prototype fuselage

January 1995 – Melbourne to Zurich locomotive parts for refurbishment at ABB Switzerland. Forwarding agent Jacky Maeder

January 1997 – Mecheria to Luton – Virgin Round the World Hot Air Balloon recovery following Richard Branson’s sadly failed attempt

June 1994 – London Ontario to Dublin complete new GM Diesel locomotive for Irish Rail. (146 tonnes total load)

September 1993 – Dusseldorf to Delhi (World record for a single piece at that time) Siemens generator

August 2009 – Frankfurt to Yerevan 187.6 tonne generator, the heaviest single piece cargo ever transported by air